As she spoke, the face of the "mermaid" in the water gradually changed, and she turned into Luvia, but her face was more delicate and beautiful than that of a mortal.
She waved to Shade and asked with a smile in Luvia's voice:
"Shadow, do you want to take a bath together?"
"Ma'am, this is very rude."
Xia De said with a serious face, in fact, the impulse rising in his heart was almost suppressed. It was just that when you were in the same space with desire, your own desire was at risk of getting out of control at any time. Even though Xia De had this experience once, he still couldn't avoid being affected.
The degree of danger of this "mermaid" is proportional to her appearance.
"Excuse me, what exactly do you want to do?"
"No, I don't want to do anything. This meeting was just a coincidence."
She regained her beautiful face that was beyond aesthetics, but her eye color remained the same as Luvia's.
The arm stretched out from the pool was placed on the dirty ground. After being stained by the dirty dust, the white skin looked more attractive than before:
"Look, I was here originally, and you broke in by yourself."
This is true, and the trader at the Sin Mansion also said that the guests of the underground wine cellar had already arrived here.
"So... can I leave?"
Shade asked after a moment's hesitation.
"Of course, but the door to leave is right under the sink."
She said with a smile that every breath she took must make Xia De confirm that she could still maintain her sanity. If this was a dice-rolling game, then every breath she took was an attack.
"The door is in the sink...Okay, this time, what do I need to do for you to let me go?"
Judging from the other party's appearance, it didn't seem like he was going to take the initiative to attack him this time.
"I crave your interesting soul, but it's even more satisfying to see you become even more interesting."
Squinting his eyes slightly, this face seemed to become somewhat similar to Miss Carina:
"Go, go meet the owner of this mansion, and let him bear witness to your sin."
There are now two ways to leave, one is to go through the underground wine cellar, and the other is to meet the owner of the mansion. And the requirements of desire basically mean that there is only one way left.
However, compared to facing the "mermaid" in front of him, Xia De felt that it might be safer to meet the owner of the mansion.
What's more, the vampire Bernhardt and Sister Devlin should be upstairs.
"Okay, then I'll go meet the owner of the mansion."
So Xia De agreed easily.
"Don't worry, ask the owner of the mansion for a pair of pearl earrings for me. Don't tell him that it's my request, just use your own means to get it."
She retracted her hand, but Shade could hear the sound of her hand sliding under the water. The blurred blue light in the water made the woman's head more attractive. She tilted her head and looked at Shade, her wet lips were very tempting:
"Just like last time, if you complete my request, I will let you go and give you a gift."
"This time, I don't want to eat your flesh again."
Shade immediately shook his head.
"Oh, are you still thinking about that? No, if you want to eat my meat, you can do it anytime."
She bit her lips:
"I am even willing to be eaten by you in its entirety, to be completely integrated with you. Do you want me to be torn into pieces while crying, or do you want me to be covered in oil and pushed into the grill with a smile..."
"No, no, let's get back to the pearl earrings."
Shade had to rely on the voice in his head to keep laughing in his ears so that he could stay sane. Compared to the last time they met, his resistance was much weaker this time. I don't know if this was the effect of eating the other's flesh and blood, or because Shade was no longer pure.
"Well, interesting soul, this time, I can give you something interesting. Go ahead, when you are in trouble, you can recite my name softly, maybe, I can really hear it. No one in this sin mansion can stop me."
A ray of ambiguous pink light floated from the pool and entered the back of Shade's hand. The desire in her heart increased again, but it also increased her strength:
"Go meet the owner of the mansion. My mark will protect you until you come back again."
Although he was threatening Xia De to come back, his tone was still so gentle.
Looking at Xia De, the wet black hair stuck to the side of his face. This time, the white arm on the left side stretched out, but after twisting the hair, it did not tuck it behind the ear, but put it in front of the mouth and gently bit it:
"Or, if you're willing to play in the water with me for a while, I can let you go, and that would be...very happy."
Xia De was so scared that he turned around and left, and behind him came the signature light laughter of Desire.
"Just smile."
He urged in his heart, and that familiar laughter still made Xia De feel at ease.
After realizing that there was a relic in the underground wine cellar that could be rated as level 0 as an individual, Xia De no longer cared about any danger on the third floor of the Sin Mansion as he did before.
He almost escaped from the basement, and then without looking back, he walked along the corridor where the flames were gradually extinguished, all the way back to the stairs in front of the mansion. He stopped and took a deep breath. He was really glad that Desire had never been too hostile to him, otherwise the last drop of divinity reserved for the promotion from the third ring to the fourth ring would probably be consumed here.
"What the hell is Fort Midhill? Could anything more dangerous happen here?"
The only things more dangerous than the Unknowable-level relics are probably the great ones in Skyrim.
"She" reminded softly.
"No, no, it's already messy enough here."
He rarely drew Mr. Dawn's holy emblem on his chest:
“May God bless this city.”
Walking up the stairs to the second floor, it looked even more dilapidated than when I left. In addition to the scratches on the walls, there were also traces of burns. The mysterious fire controlled by Sister Defulin had a strong restraining effect on this mansion.
Shade then returned to the room where he met Bernhardt. The trader was still there, and when he saw Shade, he immediately grinned:
"My generous guest, you are back again, what do you need this time?"
"I want to know if a nun came to see you just now? Where did she go?"
"Help me bear 0.1 of a perfect moment of laziness."
"Why is it perfect laziness again?"
“I’m a senior trader.”
"Can't I just do it in a normal way?"
"I don't bargain here."
Xia De gritted his teeth:
"OK, 0.1 tick."
He handed over his parchment again, and after adding the sin, he got the answer he wanted:
"About 10 minutes ago, a nun wearing a spiritual silver eye mask came and wanted to trade me for the 'Fire of Sin'. But this strange flame is only possessed by the owner of the mansion. So, she went to find the owner of the mansion. In addition, the vampire also went to find the owner. He wanted the Holy Grail of Blood, which is the owner's personal collection."
"Why do you always reveal information about blood-sucking species for free?"
Shade asked curiously.
"Because he had a fight with me. Although he paid a price and let me let him go, I have no obligation to keep his secret. I also told the scary nun about the vampire. If I am not mistaken, the flame in her hand should be the primordial fire. The guests this time are really amazing. Is something big going to happen in the material world?"
Since the two possible helpers had gone to the third floor, Xia De had no other choice. He went up the stairs to the third floor and returned to the starting point. Then he went around the corridor and found the banquet hall at the back of the mansion.
A battle had just taken place here, and it was even more brutal than downstairs. The black double doors that seemed to absorb light were tightly closed. The patterns on the doors were extremely complicated, and the meaning of filth and sin expressed were probably enough to drive a sane person crazy.
After knocking on the door gently, he heard no sound from inside, so Xia De bent down and pushed the door himself.
The light inside the door was dimmer than outside. In the slightly empty banquet hall stood life-size stone figurines of various sizes, including humans, elves, mermen, and many other races that Shade could not identify.
In the middle of the banquet hall was a long dining table covered with a pure black tablecloth. At the end of the table sat an old man with no hair, a gray face, and many wrinkles.
Sister Defulin and Mr. Bernhardt sat on both sides of the long dining table near the door. This scene almost made Shade think that he was back at the God's Wine Party in Night Manor.
He looked down at his hands, but the divine afterglow did not appear, proving that the relic had nothing to do with the power of the gods. When he came to the core room of the relic, the influence of the whispering element became even stronger.
But compared to the desire I just saw, the negative thoughts at this moment are not worth mentioning at all.
"All the guests entering this time have arrived, so please take a seat."
The old man spoke in a hoarse voice, and the door behind Xia De closed automatically.
Shade first looked at the vampire, and Armand Bernhard nodded to him as a greeting. Then he looked at Sister Develyn, who just turned her head to look at him. Because she was wearing an eye mask, Shade couldn't judge her expression.
He did not choose to sit at the end of the long table facing the owner of the mansion, but finally sat next to Mr. Bernhardt. The latter was not surprised because he and Shade had a mutual healing relationship. He did not sit next to Sister Defulin because there was no need to reveal that he knew the nun.
It seemed that every time Xia De sat at the long dining table in this kind of banquet hall, something incredible would happen. In short, due to the demands of desire, Xia De was forced to sit here this time.
When Xia De sat down, the hoarse voice of the mansion owner sounded again. If a normal human made such a sound, he would probably be buried soon:
"This house doesn't always appear in the material world. The fact that I can meet the three guests here is also the fate of water droplets splashing on stones in the long river of fate. This era seems to be more interesting. I would like to see if the steam technology of this era is different from that of the Fifth Era."
The Witch Emperors of the Fifth Era were not idle. Limited evidence shows that before the end of the Fifth Era, some areas had already seen traces of steam industry. Unfortunately, the changes in the era erased most of the data, so there is little research material.
"Everyone has their own sins in their hands."
He motioned for Shad, Mr. Bernhardt, and the nun to take out their parchments.
Since Shade was sitting next to Mr. Bernhardt, he took a look at his parchment. Mr. Bernhardt's sins also numbered about eight or nine, but before Shade tried to see his soul quality, the vampire tilted the parchment unnoticeably, avoiding Shade's sight.
"Excuse me, we each have something we want, how do we get what we want?"
Shad asked.
"It's a bit boring to use sin to exchange for what you each want."
Hearing him say this, Shade and Mr. Bernhardt both raised their eyebrows. Now they understood why most people disappeared after meeting the owner of the mansion.
"So, what do you want to do?"
The nun asked with an unchanged expression, her voice still so calm and ethereal... ... At this moment, Shad actually thought that Sister Defulin's voice was very similar to the voice of desire, and then he realized that this was another influence of the level 0 relic on him.
The owner of the mansion at the end of the table coughed:
"Let's play cards."
The fear of desire was suppressed, and Xia De felt ecstatic.
"How about Rhodes? This card game has been around for the entire Sixth Epoch, and it symbolizes your civilization and the power of enlightenment. As for the chips, use your respective sins. When you lose all your sins, leave the table and stand with these terracotta warriors."
Xia De glanced at the figurines around him with different expressions. Long ago, these were also outsiders who sat here and played cards with the owner of the mansion.
"Once you get what you want, you can leave. So, what do you want?"
He asked the three people.
"The fire of sin."
Sister Defulin said, her cold voice in stark contrast to that of the mansion owner.
"Relic - Holy Grail of Blood."
Mr. Bernhardt said, his brows furrowed as if he was thinking about something.
"A beautiful pair of gold pearl earrings."
Xia De felt that he was the most innocent, after all, he had already got what he wanted. If it weren't for the desire in the wine cellar, he would have returned to the Xikar Mountain, basking in the sun and waiting for Sister Defulin.
"Gold pearl earrings? No problem. I didn't expect that in this day and age, there are still people who know that I have such things."
He coughed.
"Sisters who crave the fire of sin, you can leave after winning 1 minute of precious sin from me. Vampires who crave the blood cup, you can leave after winning 6 minutes of perfect sin from me. As for you, an outsider who follows desire, you need to pay more."
"Why?"
"Because what you ask for is not your own desire."
The cloudy eyes looked at Xia De:
"You are going to win the sin of three quarters of treasures. Yes, three quarters of treasures."
Xia De pursed his lips and said nothing. Perfect laziness had already had a subtle influence on him. Three treasures, unless he gluttonously ate the treasures, would definitely cause more serious consequences.
Chapter 706: The Mermaid's Mission